Messenger: Senate Majority Fund

Candidate: Brittany Pettersen

Contest: Senate District 22

Affiliation: D

Date delivered: Sept. 10, 2018

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Message type: mailer

Message tone: negative

About the message:

This mailer from the Senate Majority Fund super PAC accuses Democratic state Rep. Brittany Pettersen of responsibility for high health care costs, among other things. Pettersen faces Republican Tony Sanchez in the Senate District 22 contest.

Here's a look at the items citied in the mailer:

• Her co-sponsorship, after it passed the House, of a measure to improve family leave by charging an insurance premium of less than 1 percent of wages for all employees in Colorado. The measure died in the Senate.
• Her vote for the state budget, which passed the House 46-17 and the Senate 35-0. The mailer says the budget put the state in debt, which is not accurate.
• Her votes for bills to create a new license type for freestanding health facilities and regulations for residential service providers. Both measures died in the Senate. The mailer says these bills would have raised health care costs in rural areas, though fees cited in bill analyses indicate relatively modest fees for businesses.

About the messenger: The Senate Majority Fund is a state-level super PAC that supports Republican candidates for Colorado's state Senate and opposes Democratic candidates.

The messenger's money: The group has raised about $2 million since Jan. 1, 2017, including $200,000 from Noble Energy, $77,200 from Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, $64,000 from the Colorado Apartment Association, $45,000 from The Anschutz Corp. and $35,000 from Encana Oil & Gas,